By the time Friday rolls around, I've generally watched a hell of a lot of TV. I often have little opinions that don't warrant an entire post, so I'm adding a new feature to my blog: The week-in-review. Enjoy! (And I'll try to keep it to shows that actually aired for the first time this week, as opposed to something that happened on Lost five years ago.)
Best Guest Star: Fred Weller for The Good Wife
You’d think this nod would have to go to Leelee Sobieski for the very same episode of the very same show, but she elicited little more than, “Oh, it’s Leelee Sobieski. Huh.” Whereas Fred Weller brought forth hand clapping and an excited “US marshal Marshall Mann!!! Eeeee!” Hats off to The Good Wife for bringing back guest stars when you least expect it and in the twistiest and most conniving possible ways.
Worst Performance by an Inanimate Object: the cape
Worst Performance by an Animate Object: Mr. "The Cape”
Funniest Indicator of a Sexual Relationship: Ian Gallagher and his boss on Shameless
Upon entering the convenience store and seeing his brother and his brother’s boss awkwardly stocking shelves, Lip realizes who Ian has been sleeping with by simply noting their attire. You’d guess that his assumption was based on disheveled shirts or missing articles, but no, it’s all in the shoes, with Ian and his boss each wearing one white and one black sneaker. “You’re fucking him?!” Oops. Aside from the fact that his brother is sleeping with his boss, which Lip didn’t know, Lip also didn’t know for sure that Ian was gay. Well, he does now.
Most Titillating Preview for Next Week’s Episode: Um, CASTLE!
Yeah, so being the TV maven that I am, I had seen a picture of Castle and Beckett either just before or just after a kiss, so it isn’t a total surprise here, but I’m still quite excited for it (what with it having been building for the past 2 1/2 seasons and all). I'm also a little afraid of it… I’m confident this will simply make things more interesting and complex, but there’s always a chance that it will simply quash any and all sexual chemistry they once had… It’s happened before…
Most Justifiable Reason for Screwing-over your Colleague: Southland
After listening to recovering addict Office Dewey spout off about AA, rambling incessantly, and make racist remarks for an entire episode, Michael Cudlitz has finally had enough after he rails against a couple of female police officers for having the guts to call him on his shit (hats off to Regina King for finally smacking him in the face). After listening to Dewey call them “bitches” about a dozen times, Cudlitz does what anyone would do. He stops at a convenience store for coffee (where a fellow unit happened to be), waits for Dewey to go inside, then drives away (with Ben McKenzie in tow). While I had to feel bad for the poor officer who got stuck with Dewey after that, it’s hard to argue this one. It made me love Cudlitz character about 300% more, even if it meant that Chickie got screwed. Heh, the look on Ben’s face when Cudlitz told him to get in the car was classic.
Characters I’d Most Like to See Trapped in an Episode of I Shouldn’t Be Alive: the three newbs on Off the Map
As is, Off the Map is your standard Shonda Rhimes medical melodrama, only with more ferns. You really want to shake things up and reinvent a genre? Shatter someone’s pelvis, give them malaria, trap them under boulder, and then have them treat patients.
Best Lie: Cary Agos (aka Logan Huntzberger) on The Good Wife
Okay, I’ve always loved Cary a ridiculous amount, but his most recent turn as conniving ASA, lying and manipulating his way to a confession, has me positively gleeful. I don’t generally enjoy seeing Will and Alicia get played, but that was awesome. And then calling in US marshal Marshall Mann for back-up? So awesome.
Second Best Lie: Antonia on Top Chef
Upon being told that if her teammates Jamie and Tiffany hadn’t sucked so much, Antonia would be in the winners’ circle and would have won the whole challenge (including a trip to Amsterdam), Antonia starts to tear up. The judges predictably ask what the tears are for. The real answer is, “I can’t believe I missed out on my ONE CHANCE to win a challenge AND an effing trip to Amsterdam because dumb and dumber over here don’t know how to cook!” but Antonia quickly covered with, “I… just don’t want to see anyone go home.” Sure you don't. But, nice save. I was sure she’d shoot herself in the foot or make an ass of herself, but she managed the situation incredibly well.
Most Overdue Dismissal: Speaking of Top Chef, hey look, it's Jamie!
I’m not sure when exactly the show decided to start rewarding terrible chefs who constantly screw over their teammates, but apparently that was the order of the day for this season. Jamie has been a pathetic waste of space for the past several weeks, but only just now sent home. Either she’s secretly the daughter of the executive producer or she’s sleeping with him. That’s really the only possible explanation.
Least Convincing Argument for Participating in "Sports": Lights Out
Man alive, I wanted to like FX's new drama Lights Out, I really did, but the show seems to operate in universe where people actually care about boxing and manage to think of it as anything but a couple of morons beating the crap out of each other. I can suspend my disbelief as much, if not more, than the next person, but that's going too far. Show about a guy who can bring people back from the dead with a single touch? Mmm, okay! Show about vampires and werewolves and witches? Why not! Show where boxing is cool? Whoa, whoa, slow down there, people. Honestly, it was probably a very good pilot with strong themes and a specific perspective, but I was so annoyed at the notion that boxing is a sport that it was hard to care. The dialogue and acting weren't spectacular, but overall the show would have been fine if it had focused on just about any other sport. Seriously, I watch Friday Night Lights and the football doesn't bother me.
Showing posts with label The Cape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Cape. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Wardrobe Malfunction
So... watched NBC's new pilot The Cape last night... Wow, I didn't exactly approach this one with anything even resembling high expectations and it was still even worse than I thought it would be.
Suffice it to say, they actually aired the pilot and the second episode last night and I couldn't be bothered (read: threatened at gunpoint) to watch the second episode, even though it was sitting
right there, already recorded and everything. Geez, I couldn't make it through the pilot without some fast-forwarding, let alone undertaking another one. (Oooh, speaking of "undertaking," have I got the show for you!)
It's hardly worth even providing a run-down of this one, but here's the 30 second version of the pilot. (Ann and Annie got to see the live-action version of this this morning. There were hand actions and facial expressions to help truly convey the absurdity of the whole affair. You'll just have to make those up on your own, which, with what you're about to read, shouldn't be too much of a stretch.)
Here's the gist. So this cop named Vince goes to work for some mega-billionaire type who wants to privatize the police force or something. Vince wants to make a difference and save the city from the evil mastermind Chess (yes, the big bad is named Chess--I was actually hoping it was simply short for Chester, but alas). Well, turns out his new boss is Chess (Dun-dun-dun! oh my god! what a shocking surprise! and in the first 10 minutes of the show!) and wants to frame Vince for his crimes. Muahahahaha ("So, that's, you know, coming along.") To give you a quick idea of what this tyrannous super-villain is like, I'd say he's a combination of
Voldemort, Warren Buffet, and The Rocketeer (Let me guess, you were with me until the Rocketeer. Because I think everyone initially thought, Voldemort and Warren Buffet?! Together at last!) What is his master plan for framing Vince, you ask? Why, simply staple Chess' snake mask to Vince's head, of course! I wish I were kidding. Anyway, Vince gets chased by the cops, falls down into some sort of underground something or other and is believed dead, but don't worry, some circus performers come and save him... Yeah, this is where things get particularly special (as in, "stop eating the paste" special). The circus performers [oh, good god, I'm trying to give you the basic happenings here, but they're just horrendous, so I'm struggling] at one point use his master key card to rob banks (because the powers-that-be wouldn't have deactivated that card after its owner was revealed as Chess or anything... or after he died... or definitely not after the third bank was robbed) and then decide to add him to their crew. They teach him all their circus tricks and how to use a cape as a weapon so that he can fight injustice and take down the real Chess and prove to his son that there's good in the world! It was even lamer than it sounds. The cape is basically a flapping dickey that retracts at his command (so, you know, only slightly less badass than rainbow suspenders). When extolling its virtues, Vince's mentor tells him about the amazing technology of the cape, such as--wait for it-- a weighted hem! No really, that's it. That's all he could come up with, and quite frankly, it's more than I came up with. (I think he said something about it being made of spider silk or something, but it sounded like it was lifted wholesale from Batman Begins, so I don't think they get credit). 
Long story short (but not nearly short enough), Vince teams up with an internet blogger named Orwell (yeah, I know, it's bad) to fight injustice, blah, blah, blah.
In case that brass tacks assessment wasn't telling enough, let me assure you that the premise, basic plot structure, character design, and story development were all equally absurd. To recount all the problems with this pilot would take ages and would be a colossal waste of everyone's time. The entire thing was nonsensical and at least 80% was unintelligible given the amount of effort I could bring myself to spend on this. Wait, so how did the really bad guys know that the... semi... bad guys were... wait, where were they? Oh, who the hell cares. Not only was the actual narrative cheese-tastic and ludicrous, but the people behind the show apparently think that the viewers are complete and total morons who 1) won't notice the glaring plot-holes and overall lameness of the show and 2) need to be reminded about events that happened in the last scene. I kid you not, during the reveal of Vince's new boss as Chess, they flash back to the conversation Vince
had with him 5 minutes ago. Dear show, I may not be able to bring myself to pay that close of attention to this piece of shit, but I can still remember who Vince's boss is between now and the last time I blinked.
It's fairly common for me to feel that it's unfortunate for certain actors to have signed onto a show, but it's pretty rare for me to genuine pity their poor career choices with each and every passing scene. I spent the entire pilot wondering how on earth anyone got roped into this farce, let alone any actual names. Summer Glau, what the hell are you doing here? Keith David? Really? James Frain? You've decided to take your new recognizability from your recent turn on True Blood and apply it here? It was seriously hard to watch.
Lest you immediately think that I simply didn't get what they were trying to do here, or that this simply isn't my kind of show, let me disabuse you of the notion as best I can. I understand where they were going with this, and in the correct hands, I think it could have been successful, but here, it simply fell flat. They seemed to be aiming for a semi-nostalgic throwback to the comic book themes and ideals of the '50s and '60s, hoping to update the genre while paying homage to the past. I have a feeling they were hoping for The Dark Knight, but the end result was more akin to Bibleman (you know, but without all the scripture and 100% less Willie Aames (Hey, look at that! The Cape does have something going for it!). At some point, my brother and I had to theorize that they were making it intentionally awful, like maybe they wanted to point to outdated and outmoded perceptions of good and evil using a campy sendup, then give it a modern spin...? Or something? Try as we might, we couldn't come up with an artistic reason why this show would be so terrible. Then we simply stopped trying. It was after my brother decided that The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was better that he officially threw in the towel. I love comic books (Marvel in particular was more my style than DC, generally speaking) and often love their adaptations, but this was one is better suited to the trash bin. Perhaps if it were animated, it could have been watchable, but primetime insists on live-action for drama, so here we are. Seriously, any and every random episode of The Justice League would blow this sucker out of the water. Who knows, maybe I completely missed the boat on what they were trying to do here and I've spent the last several paragraphs missing the point entirely. Whatever they were trying to do, it didn't work for me, I know that much.
Again, under the exact right circumstances, the laughable concept, sub-par special effects, and vintage feel could possibly have worked, but here? It's just a joke. And not a very funny one. Well, not intentionally funny at any rate. It took itself entirely too seriously to have this kind of a concept at its base. I salute them for going all in, but it just didn't gel for me. I don't know that even the almighty Joss Whedon could have
rescued this one. I could see where a different creative team could have ended up with a final product that was akin to the Tim Burton versions of Batman, where all the crazy costumes, heightened reality, and narrative absurdities could actually come together to make for a compelling, visually interesting, and unique take on a classic, but The Cape was a fail for me. The laundry list of problems extends from huge fundamental concept issues to the most menial of details and spans everything in between. The lead actor's pitiful attempt at an American accent was probably least of the show's worries, and that's usually right at the top of my list. Here? It barely made the list at all. What can I say? I was so distracted by how horrible the dialogue itself was, that I could barely appreciate the Australian accent shining through we each passing, clumsily delivered line.
I struggled through the pilot, but soldiered to the end where Vince, now known as "The Cape" (great name, buddy), tells his son that things can still get better and that he shouldn't lose hope. Sorry, "The Cape," but I've already lost all hope in you, this show, and in NBC's ability to ever have anything that's ever worth watching ever again. Based on the show's tepid ratings (not horrendous, but for a series premiere, they're nothing to write home about), I'm not the only one who was underwhelmed. For NBC's sake, I hope somebody liked this, but that's certainly not me.
Pilot Grade: F
Suffice it to say, they actually aired the pilot and the second episode last night and I couldn't be bothered (read: threatened at gunpoint) to watch the second episode, even though it was sitting
right there, already recorded and everything. Geez, I couldn't make it through the pilot without some fast-forwarding, let alone undertaking another one. (Oooh, speaking of "undertaking," have I got the show for you!)It's hardly worth even providing a run-down of this one, but here's the 30 second version of the pilot. (Ann and Annie got to see the live-action version of this this morning. There were hand actions and facial expressions to help truly convey the absurdity of the whole affair. You'll just have to make those up on your own, which, with what you're about to read, shouldn't be too much of a stretch.)
Here's the gist. So this cop named Vince goes to work for some mega-billionaire type who wants to privatize the police force or something. Vince wants to make a difference and save the city from the evil mastermind Chess (yes, the big bad is named Chess--I was actually hoping it was simply short for Chester, but alas). Well, turns out his new boss is Chess (Dun-dun-dun! oh my god! what a shocking surprise! and in the first 10 minutes of the show!) and wants to frame Vince for his crimes. Muahahahaha ("So, that's, you know, coming along.") To give you a quick idea of what this tyrannous super-villain is like, I'd say he's a combination of
Voldemort, Warren Buffet, and The Rocketeer (Let me guess, you were with me until the Rocketeer. Because I think everyone initially thought, Voldemort and Warren Buffet?! Together at last!) What is his master plan for framing Vince, you ask? Why, simply staple Chess' snake mask to Vince's head, of course! I wish I were kidding. Anyway, Vince gets chased by the cops, falls down into some sort of underground something or other and is believed dead, but don't worry, some circus performers come and save him... Yeah, this is where things get particularly special (as in, "stop eating the paste" special). The circus performers [oh, good god, I'm trying to give you the basic happenings here, but they're just horrendous, so I'm struggling] at one point use his master key card to rob banks (because the powers-that-be wouldn't have deactivated that card after its owner was revealed as Chess or anything... or after he died... or definitely not after the third bank was robbed) and then decide to add him to their crew. They teach him all their circus tricks and how to use a cape as a weapon so that he can fight injustice and take down the real Chess and prove to his son that there's good in the world! It was even lamer than it sounds. The cape is basically a flapping dickey that retracts at his command (so, you know, only slightly less badass than rainbow suspenders). When extolling its virtues, Vince's mentor tells him about the amazing technology of the cape, such as--wait for it-- a weighted hem! No really, that's it. That's all he could come up with, and quite frankly, it's more than I came up with. (I think he said something about it being made of spider silk or something, but it sounded like it was lifted wholesale from Batman Begins, so I don't think they get credit). 
Long story short (but not nearly short enough), Vince teams up with an internet blogger named Orwell (yeah, I know, it's bad) to fight injustice, blah, blah, blah.In case that brass tacks assessment wasn't telling enough, let me assure you that the premise, basic plot structure, character design, and story development were all equally absurd. To recount all the problems with this pilot would take ages and would be a colossal waste of everyone's time. The entire thing was nonsensical and at least 80% was unintelligible given the amount of effort I could bring myself to spend on this. Wait, so how did the really bad guys know that the... semi... bad guys were... wait, where were they? Oh, who the hell cares. Not only was the actual narrative cheese-tastic and ludicrous, but the people behind the show apparently think that the viewers are complete and total morons who 1) won't notice the glaring plot-holes and overall lameness of the show and 2) need to be reminded about events that happened in the last scene. I kid you not, during the reveal of Vince's new boss as Chess, they flash back to the conversation Vince
had with him 5 minutes ago. Dear show, I may not be able to bring myself to pay that close of attention to this piece of shit, but I can still remember who Vince's boss is between now and the last time I blinked.It's fairly common for me to feel that it's unfortunate for certain actors to have signed onto a show, but it's pretty rare for me to genuine pity their poor career choices with each and every passing scene. I spent the entire pilot wondering how on earth anyone got roped into this farce, let alone any actual names. Summer Glau, what the hell are you doing here? Keith David? Really? James Frain? You've decided to take your new recognizability from your recent turn on True Blood and apply it here? It was seriously hard to watch.
Lest you immediately think that I simply didn't get what they were trying to do here, or that this simply isn't my kind of show, let me disabuse you of the notion as best I can. I understand where they were going with this, and in the correct hands, I think it could have been successful, but here, it simply fell flat. They seemed to be aiming for a semi-nostalgic throwback to the comic book themes and ideals of the '50s and '60s, hoping to update the genre while paying homage to the past. I have a feeling they were hoping for The Dark Knight, but the end result was more akin to Bibleman (you know, but without all the scripture and 100% less Willie Aames (Hey, look at that! The Cape does have something going for it!). At some point, my brother and I had to theorize that they were making it intentionally awful, like maybe they wanted to point to outdated and outmoded perceptions of good and evil using a campy sendup, then give it a modern spin...? Or something? Try as we might, we couldn't come up with an artistic reason why this show would be so terrible. Then we simply stopped trying. It was after my brother decided that The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was better that he officially threw in the towel. I love comic books (Marvel in particular was more my style than DC, generally speaking) and often love their adaptations, but this was one is better suited to the trash bin. Perhaps if it were animated, it could have been watchable, but primetime insists on live-action for drama, so here we are. Seriously, any and every random episode of The Justice League would blow this sucker out of the water. Who knows, maybe I completely missed the boat on what they were trying to do here and I've spent the last several paragraphs missing the point entirely. Whatever they were trying to do, it didn't work for me, I know that much.
Again, under the exact right circumstances, the laughable concept, sub-par special effects, and vintage feel could possibly have worked, but here? It's just a joke. And not a very funny one. Well, not intentionally funny at any rate. It took itself entirely too seriously to have this kind of a concept at its base. I salute them for going all in, but it just didn't gel for me. I don't know that even the almighty Joss Whedon could have
rescued this one. I could see where a different creative team could have ended up with a final product that was akin to the Tim Burton versions of Batman, where all the crazy costumes, heightened reality, and narrative absurdities could actually come together to make for a compelling, visually interesting, and unique take on a classic, but The Cape was a fail for me. The laundry list of problems extends from huge fundamental concept issues to the most menial of details and spans everything in between. The lead actor's pitiful attempt at an American accent was probably least of the show's worries, and that's usually right at the top of my list. Here? It barely made the list at all. What can I say? I was so distracted by how horrible the dialogue itself was, that I could barely appreciate the Australian accent shining through we each passing, clumsily delivered line.I struggled through the pilot, but soldiered to the end where Vince, now known as "The Cape" (great name, buddy), tells his son that things can still get better and that he shouldn't lose hope. Sorry, "The Cape," but I've already lost all hope in you, this show, and in NBC's ability to ever have anything that's ever worth watching ever again. Based on the show's tepid ratings (not horrendous, but for a series premiere, they're nothing to write home about), I'm not the only one who was underwhelmed. For NBC's sake, I hope somebody liked this, but that's certainly not me.
Pilot Grade: F
Thursday, May 27, 2010
NBC Pilots 2010: Volume 2
This volume should round out NBC's new dramas. Below you'll find clips and snap judgments on The Event, which will premiere this fall, as well as Harry's Law and The Cape, which are slated for midseason. Whether or not that's how things will actually pan out, however, is up for grabs. As you may have noticed on NBC's fall schedule, Wednesday nights have Law & Order: Los Angeles penciled in for a fall pairing with SVU. I say "penciled in" because as near as I can tell, they have yet to do absolutely anything with this yet (you know, aside from killing off original flavor just one season shy of the record). Beyond the title, they don't seem to have a clue in hell what this is going to be (and I suspect, if this is going to be). At any rate, the total lack of anything about this one means I don't have much to review really, so at least I can knock one pilot off my list. (The fact that LOLA got picked up without so much as a pilot makes the unceremonious death of The Rockford Files reboot all the more embarrassing. Word is, even after re-cutting the pilot extensively, it was still too dull to make it on the air--ouch.)
Anyway, without further ado, here's three more of NBC's deluge of pilots (seriously, I don't know how they are affording all these new shows and can't imagine they'll have the budget to promote them properly)...
THE EVENT
Description: Stars Jason Ritter (The Class, and most recently as Lorelai's love interest on Parenthood), Sarah Roemer (Disturbia), Blair Underwood (Dirty Sexy Money), Laura Innes, (Dr. Weaver from ER), and Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls). Ian Anthony Dale (Daybreak) and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek (Damages) also star in the ensemble drama. Steve Stark (Medium, Facing Kate) serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters (The 4400, Eureka) is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights, Trauma) is the director/executive producer; Evan Katz (24) also is an executive producer.
My Take: Well, they certainly told us a whole lot about what The Event is not, I'll give it that much. The very fact that they have titled the show with such a bald-faced plea for this show to become appointment TV is annoying enough, but then for the trailer to be all vague in a "you can't handle the truth" kind of way is bordering on obnoxious. It honestly looks like a slick, high-budget, high-concept show with some serious talent on and off the screen, so I guess I'm mainly just quibbling with how it was presented. They're quite obviously aiming for the kind of mystery and intrigue that gave Lost its luster, but the trailer for Lost had people salivating for more. When people first started watching Lost, no one really knew just how many twists and turns they were in for. With The Event's trailer, the producers are basically shouting at potential viewers, "Hey, look over here! There's going to be all sorts of mystery, and everyone loves a good mystery, right!? Okay, I'll give you a few hints... The assassination plot isn't the event. Are you glued to your TV yet?!" I, for one, am not. I'm not saying it won't be a good show, because it very well may be, but the way they're promoting it just isn't doing it for me. As with other recent high-concept serials like The Nine, Six Degrees, and FlashForward, I have a sinking feeling that unless they start presenting this to people in a more tantalizing, concrete way, the show is going to start off very strong, then falter. Off the bat, it strikes me as a good idea for a movie or miniseries than a TV show. But, once again, it's hard to really sum up the show given that the trailer basically told us a whole bunch of what the show isn't. I'm not even sure what the base conceit is, so really, we have a mystery at the core, surrounded by more mysterious mysteries. At the end of the day, really good thrillers are as solid in some areas as they are amorphous in others. They should give you an idea of what you're in for week-to-week, but hold back enough to keep you sucked in. So far? The Event gives me nothing tangible to latch onto. On the plus side, this series has some real power-players at the helm, so assuming the pilot tells viewers even 1% of what is going on, they might just be able to hit this one out of the park. The trailer was too unnecessarily disjointed to really get a feel for who's who (one minute the president knows Dr. Weaver, the next minute he doesn't? One minute Jason Ritter's fiancee is missing, the next she's running with him?), but assuming the show itself manages to define them, it could be pretty spectacular. I'm no fan of Blair Underwood, but the rest of the cast is very strong. I'm not too familiar with the behind-the-scenes production crew though, so it's a tough call. This one could really go either way. I was unimpressed and a little annoyed by the trailer, but I was able to parse out enough solid fundamentals that they might just pull it off. Again, I'm left with the feeling that I don't actually have any clue in hell what this show is going to be (seriously, who are these people?), so I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to tune it. My prediction? Well-made, engaging pilot with strong ratings, soon to be followed by people losing interest as the show meanders its way through 873 mysteries while it forsakes actual substance. For those of you hoping to break into the biz, that, my friends, is not the impression a trailer should be hoping to make. Inexplicably, I learned a hell of a lot more about the show based on this blurb about it on the web than I did from the trailer:
"The Event" is an emotional high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean's quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Blair Underwood); Sophia (Laura Innes), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean’s shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind.
Oh, so that's what this is?! Good to know! Why, that's the kind of information that should have been delivered via the trailer! Oy... Anyway, at least from the blurb it sounds like they have a plan. Probably an overly-ambitious plan, but a plan nonetheless. This show has gotten quite a lot of buzz on Twitter and elsewhere, so it looks like the trailer has sucked others in more so than myself. Here's hoping this is simply a classic case of bad trailer, awesome show, because by most accounts, this show looks to have some serious promise.
HARRY'S LAW
Description: From Emmy Award-winning creator David E. Kelley (The Practice, Boston Legal). Stars Kathy Bates (Misery, About Schmidt), Ben Chaplin, (Me and Orson Wells, The Truth About Cats and Dogs) and Aml Ameen (Kidulthood). Also stars Brittany Snow (Hairspray) and Beatrice Rosen (Dark Knight) David E. Kelley and Bill D’Elia (Boston Legal, The Practice) serve as executive producers.
My Take: Well, after several years of drought in the "legal drama" department, we seem to have an inundation on our hands. Last season, it was all about medical shows (what with ER coming to an end and all), and before that, it was nothing but crime procedurals. What sparked the resurgence of lawyer shows, you ask? It's a good question and a tough call. On NBC alone, three of their new dramas fall into this category. The legal drama has always been a mainstay of primetime television, and after a prosperous time in the 90's, hit a rough patch in the oo's. My theory? After the success of CBS's The Good Wife, and declining ratings in the "cop show" arena, networks decided it was time to resurrect the genre. Why the hell they can't design a show that doesn't revolve around one of those three professions (cops, docs, or lawyers), I'll never understand. Anyway, preamble aside, Harry's Law has its fair share of standard legal cliches (rogue voice fighting for the little guy in blustering, heart-wrenching speeches about justice, etc.), but this show is at least aiming for some originality as well. I'm honestly not too sure how the two fellas will play into the show (the English bloke appears to be some sort of teacher who decides to work for her after she saves him... I assume the other guy will do the same?), but at least it's an interpersonal dynamic that has a unique spin and seems worthy of exploring. I'm not sure what this says about the series as a whole, but the most exciting part of the trailer? Paul McCrane! (aka Dr. Romano from ER--hey, hey, they've combined two of the three to professions now). He isn't listed as a series regular, that I've found, so that's a bummer, but even as a recurring guest star, I'd be delighted. This show is slated for midseason, and while it has some original-ish elements, I'm afraid the trappings of the genre might just be its undoing. All legal shows are a lot alike, especially all legal shows by David E. Kelley, and from what I've seen, I'm not convinced Harry's Law is going to have enough going for it to really make a splash. It seems like the kind of show that will appeal to my sensibilities, but doesn't strike me as a top tier contender right off the bat. Kathy Bates is a true power player and the supporting cast is strong, so that's something. I think the show is going to have hard time finding a sizable audience with an older actress anchoring the show, however. Geez, even The Good Wife skews to an older demographic and it has about a million times the sex appeal of this show. Unfortunately, advertisers, and by extension networks, don't exactly melt into puddles of joy for shows that skew older. Hopefully the supporting cast attracts some younger viewers, but I honestly don't think your average college student is going to be twittering over this one. All in all, it seems fairly generic, but at least they're trying for a new take on things. I'll certainly be giving it a shot, but I'm not chomping at the bit for this one--except for maybe some cartoon nostalgia from my childhood... good god, I loved that woodpecker.
THE CAPE
Description: Stars David Lyons (ER), Jennifer Ferrin (Life on Mars) Ryan Wynott (Flash Forward), James Frain (The Tudors), Keith David (Death at a Funeral), Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarach Connor Chronicles, Firefly), and Dorian Missick (Six Degrees)Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler (Empire), executive producer/director Simon West (Con Air), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC’s Mercy), and executive producer Gene Stein (Accidentally on Purpose).
My Take: This one proving to be incredibly difficult to snap judge. On paper, it sounds horrendously god-awful (seriously, when I stumbled across an internet blurb about it, it reads like a cheesy short-story written by a middle school student). But, in its finished state, it looks like it could have some serious potential. I think it's all going to boil down to execution with this one. This is the kind of concept that needs to be handled in just the right way or it'll be laughable. It'll be a fine line to walk. From the trailer, it hard to tell if the show is taking itself too seriously, or just seriously enough. As with so many shows that sound positively ridiculous on paper (teenage girl slays vampires with her friends, high school student moonlights as a private eye, computer geek has government database downloaded into his head), this will take a skilled hand... and looking at the production team behind this one, I'm pretty skeptical about their ability to pull it off. Most of the executive producers most recently helmed terrible beyond terrible shows, so here's hoping that was more the writers' faults than their own. At least the on-air talent seems solid. It's a tough call. I'm definitely intrigued, but still cautious. I keep expecting pure horribleness (in which some aspects of this show appear to be striving for a PhD), but am usually met with better. The thought of a bad guy using his cape as his weapon still smacks of lame on more than a few levels, but the special effects are slick enough for me to suspend my mocking. The go-go gadget goblet retrieval aspect of the cape didn't really dazzle me, but the poofy disappearing act was admittedly snazzy. I'm still not sold on him learning to fight bad guys from some ragtag group of circus performers, but whatever. I guess it might be okay...? The bare bones seem workable, and the concept could turn out to be pretty stellar, but so far, the dialogue had me cringing. Good lord, there weren't even that many lines said in the trailer and I was absolutely rolling my eyes. It all sounded a little Michael Bayish in that we're-trying-a-little-too-hard-to-be-badasses kind of way. "Say hello to Dorothy, bitch!" Ugh. That's a writer who's trying too hard and succeeding too little. If a show has a solid concept and superior execution, it shouldn't have to rely on cheesy one-liners. I'm really hoping that whoever put the pilot together just happened to think those lines were hilarious and picked out the few eye-rollers of an otherwise brilliant script, but I'm not holding my breath. Bad dialogue will ruin just about any show for me and this one appears to have it in spades. When it's not trying desperately to be badass, it's striving unsuccessfully for profundity and heart. Again, I've only seen the trailer and read a few things, but so far? It's too close to call. The good and the bad seem about equally weighted at this point. Hopefully this is a case where the creative team comes up with something fairly ridiculous that turns out to be insane genius, but looking at said creative team? I'm not so hopeful...
Anyway, without further ado, here's three more of NBC's deluge of pilots (seriously, I don't know how they are affording all these new shows and can't imagine they'll have the budget to promote them properly)...
THE EVENT
Description: Stars Jason Ritter (The Class, and most recently as Lorelai's love interest on Parenthood), Sarah Roemer (Disturbia), Blair Underwood (Dirty Sexy Money), Laura Innes, (Dr. Weaver from ER), and Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls). Ian Anthony Dale (Daybreak) and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek (Damages) also star in the ensemble drama. Steve Stark (Medium, Facing Kate) serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters (The 4400, Eureka) is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights, Trauma) is the director/executive producer; Evan Katz (24) also is an executive producer.
My Take: Well, they certainly told us a whole lot about what The Event is not, I'll give it that much. The very fact that they have titled the show with such a bald-faced plea for this show to become appointment TV is annoying enough, but then for the trailer to be all vague in a "you can't handle the truth" kind of way is bordering on obnoxious. It honestly looks like a slick, high-budget, high-concept show with some serious talent on and off the screen, so I guess I'm mainly just quibbling with how it was presented. They're quite obviously aiming for the kind of mystery and intrigue that gave Lost its luster, but the trailer for Lost had people salivating for more. When people first started watching Lost, no one really knew just how many twists and turns they were in for. With The Event's trailer, the producers are basically shouting at potential viewers, "Hey, look over here! There's going to be all sorts of mystery, and everyone loves a good mystery, right!? Okay, I'll give you a few hints... The assassination plot isn't the event. Are you glued to your TV yet?!" I, for one, am not. I'm not saying it won't be a good show, because it very well may be, but the way they're promoting it just isn't doing it for me. As with other recent high-concept serials like The Nine, Six Degrees, and FlashForward, I have a sinking feeling that unless they start presenting this to people in a more tantalizing, concrete way, the show is going to start off very strong, then falter. Off the bat, it strikes me as a good idea for a movie or miniseries than a TV show. But, once again, it's hard to really sum up the show given that the trailer basically told us a whole bunch of what the show isn't. I'm not even sure what the base conceit is, so really, we have a mystery at the core, surrounded by more mysterious mysteries. At the end of the day, really good thrillers are as solid in some areas as they are amorphous in others. They should give you an idea of what you're in for week-to-week, but hold back enough to keep you sucked in. So far? The Event gives me nothing tangible to latch onto. On the plus side, this series has some real power-players at the helm, so assuming the pilot tells viewers even 1% of what is going on, they might just be able to hit this one out of the park. The trailer was too unnecessarily disjointed to really get a feel for who's who (one minute the president knows Dr. Weaver, the next minute he doesn't? One minute Jason Ritter's fiancee is missing, the next she's running with him?), but assuming the show itself manages to define them, it could be pretty spectacular. I'm no fan of Blair Underwood, but the rest of the cast is very strong. I'm not too familiar with the behind-the-scenes production crew though, so it's a tough call. This one could really go either way. I was unimpressed and a little annoyed by the trailer, but I was able to parse out enough solid fundamentals that they might just pull it off. Again, I'm left with the feeling that I don't actually have any clue in hell what this show is going to be (seriously, who are these people?), so I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to tune it. My prediction? Well-made, engaging pilot with strong ratings, soon to be followed by people losing interest as the show meanders its way through 873 mysteries while it forsakes actual substance. For those of you hoping to break into the biz, that, my friends, is not the impression a trailer should be hoping to make. Inexplicably, I learned a hell of a lot more about the show based on this blurb about it on the web than I did from the trailer:
"The Event" is an emotional high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean's quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Blair Underwood); Sophia (Laura Innes), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean’s shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind.
Oh, so that's what this is?! Good to know! Why, that's the kind of information that should have been delivered via the trailer! Oy... Anyway, at least from the blurb it sounds like they have a plan. Probably an overly-ambitious plan, but a plan nonetheless. This show has gotten quite a lot of buzz on Twitter and elsewhere, so it looks like the trailer has sucked others in more so than myself. Here's hoping this is simply a classic case of bad trailer, awesome show, because by most accounts, this show looks to have some serious promise.
HARRY'S LAW
Description: From Emmy Award-winning creator David E. Kelley (The Practice, Boston Legal). Stars Kathy Bates (Misery, About Schmidt), Ben Chaplin, (Me and Orson Wells, The Truth About Cats and Dogs) and Aml Ameen (Kidulthood). Also stars Brittany Snow (Hairspray) and Beatrice Rosen (Dark Knight) David E. Kelley and Bill D’Elia (Boston Legal, The Practice) serve as executive producers.
My Take: Well, after several years of drought in the "legal drama" department, we seem to have an inundation on our hands. Last season, it was all about medical shows (what with ER coming to an end and all), and before that, it was nothing but crime procedurals. What sparked the resurgence of lawyer shows, you ask? It's a good question and a tough call. On NBC alone, three of their new dramas fall into this category. The legal drama has always been a mainstay of primetime television, and after a prosperous time in the 90's, hit a rough patch in the oo's. My theory? After the success of CBS's The Good Wife, and declining ratings in the "cop show" arena, networks decided it was time to resurrect the genre. Why the hell they can't design a show that doesn't revolve around one of those three professions (cops, docs, or lawyers), I'll never understand. Anyway, preamble aside, Harry's Law has its fair share of standard legal cliches (rogue voice fighting for the little guy in blustering, heart-wrenching speeches about justice, etc.), but this show is at least aiming for some originality as well. I'm honestly not too sure how the two fellas will play into the show (the English bloke appears to be some sort of teacher who decides to work for her after she saves him... I assume the other guy will do the same?), but at least it's an interpersonal dynamic that has a unique spin and seems worthy of exploring. I'm not sure what this says about the series as a whole, but the most exciting part of the trailer? Paul McCrane! (aka Dr. Romano from ER--hey, hey, they've combined two of the three to professions now). He isn't listed as a series regular, that I've found, so that's a bummer, but even as a recurring guest star, I'd be delighted. This show is slated for midseason, and while it has some original-ish elements, I'm afraid the trappings of the genre might just be its undoing. All legal shows are a lot alike, especially all legal shows by David E. Kelley, and from what I've seen, I'm not convinced Harry's Law is going to have enough going for it to really make a splash. It seems like the kind of show that will appeal to my sensibilities, but doesn't strike me as a top tier contender right off the bat. Kathy Bates is a true power player and the supporting cast is strong, so that's something. I think the show is going to have hard time finding a sizable audience with an older actress anchoring the show, however. Geez, even The Good Wife skews to an older demographic and it has about a million times the sex appeal of this show. Unfortunately, advertisers, and by extension networks, don't exactly melt into puddles of joy for shows that skew older. Hopefully the supporting cast attracts some younger viewers, but I honestly don't think your average college student is going to be twittering over this one. All in all, it seems fairly generic, but at least they're trying for a new take on things. I'll certainly be giving it a shot, but I'm not chomping at the bit for this one--except for maybe some cartoon nostalgia from my childhood... good god, I loved that woodpecker.
THE CAPE
Description: Stars David Lyons (ER), Jennifer Ferrin (Life on Mars) Ryan Wynott (Flash Forward), James Frain (The Tudors), Keith David (Death at a Funeral), Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarach Connor Chronicles, Firefly), and Dorian Missick (Six Degrees)Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler (Empire), executive producer/director Simon West (Con Air), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC’s Mercy), and executive producer Gene Stein (Accidentally on Purpose).
My Take: This one proving to be incredibly difficult to snap judge. On paper, it sounds horrendously god-awful (seriously, when I stumbled across an internet blurb about it, it reads like a cheesy short-story written by a middle school student). But, in its finished state, it looks like it could have some serious potential. I think it's all going to boil down to execution with this one. This is the kind of concept that needs to be handled in just the right way or it'll be laughable. It'll be a fine line to walk. From the trailer, it hard to tell if the show is taking itself too seriously, or just seriously enough. As with so many shows that sound positively ridiculous on paper (teenage girl slays vampires with her friends, high school student moonlights as a private eye, computer geek has government database downloaded into his head), this will take a skilled hand... and looking at the production team behind this one, I'm pretty skeptical about their ability to pull it off. Most of the executive producers most recently helmed terrible beyond terrible shows, so here's hoping that was more the writers' faults than their own. At least the on-air talent seems solid. It's a tough call. I'm definitely intrigued, but still cautious. I keep expecting pure horribleness (in which some aspects of this show appear to be striving for a PhD), but am usually met with better. The thought of a bad guy using his cape as his weapon still smacks of lame on more than a few levels, but the special effects are slick enough for me to suspend my mocking. The go-go gadget goblet retrieval aspect of the cape didn't really dazzle me, but the poofy disappearing act was admittedly snazzy. I'm still not sold on him learning to fight bad guys from some ragtag group of circus performers, but whatever. I guess it might be okay...? The bare bones seem workable, and the concept could turn out to be pretty stellar, but so far, the dialogue had me cringing. Good lord, there weren't even that many lines said in the trailer and I was absolutely rolling my eyes. It all sounded a little Michael Bayish in that we're-trying-a-little-too-hard-to-be-badasses kind of way. "Say hello to Dorothy, bitch!" Ugh. That's a writer who's trying too hard and succeeding too little. If a show has a solid concept and superior execution, it shouldn't have to rely on cheesy one-liners. I'm really hoping that whoever put the pilot together just happened to think those lines were hilarious and picked out the few eye-rollers of an otherwise brilliant script, but I'm not holding my breath. Bad dialogue will ruin just about any show for me and this one appears to have it in spades. When it's not trying desperately to be badass, it's striving unsuccessfully for profundity and heart. Again, I've only seen the trailer and read a few things, but so far? It's too close to call. The good and the bad seem about equally weighted at this point. Hopefully this is a case where the creative team comes up with something fairly ridiculous that turns out to be insane genius, but looking at said creative team? I'm not so hopeful...
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